Coming up next: The Great St. Charles Ave Road Race

The training plan I'm loosely following for the CCC 10k calls for a training 10k or 5k on March 29th. And can you believe it? There's a 10k a mile and a half from my house on that very day! It's the Great St. Charles Ave Road Race, and I ran it two years ago and won it. It was squished into the middle of a long run (18 or 20 miles, can't remember), and included an emergency bathroom break. Luckily, only about three women ran the 10k so, hehe, I won it. The joys of tiny races!

So that's my next race, unless I find a 5k to run two weeks prior to that, but I don't see any options so I'll probably skip that. It's on my training plan, though.

The Great St Charles blah blah race is a double loop into Audubon Park, which is good (flat! familiar!) and bad (walkers! joggers! bikers!). The Crescent City Classic is a faster course, but a little later in the day and later in the year, too - so it will be hot. Sometimes those humid April days are the worst running conditions. The earlier Great St bler bler bler race might give me a better chance at a PR, even if it's not my goal race.
My current PR is 40:58 and of course, yes, I want to beat that!

So about yesterdays' post - some people wanted to know what happened after I demanded the Respect for Cars Remedial education at the Cross Fit Box.
Well, I anticlimactically had to get on a conference call and ended up kind of sheepishly waiving and mouthing a "thanks!" as I tried to figure out how to mute my cellphone.
So much for that. I'm sure the minute I left the whole "box" laughed their heads off at my pettiness. and then threw a tire against a wall.

Cross-fitters are jerks

Last week, I was driving home from a meeting in Metarie, and turned onto my street. At the end of my street is a Cross-Fit "box" (also known as a garage). I'm well aware of this fact, and well aware that the cross fitters often run in the road. They do some sort of short sprint or run, and because they park up on the side of the road, they usually do it in the middle of the street.

I know this, because it's my street, and I drive on it all the time. So I'm always very careful when I pull onto the road.

That afternoon, sure enough, runners were in the road. I held way back from them, inching along well behind until they turned around and could see me, and I passed the group with plenty of room. I did this because -
1. Pedestrians always have the right-of-way!
2. Yeah, they should be on the sidewalk, but I know what New Orleans streets are like. You can't always do that easily.
3. And most importantly - as a runner myself, I am hyper-aware of the safety of other runners.

But despite this, Jackass Crossfitter guy swung around my car and SLAPPED THE BACK OF MY VEHICLE.
Oh, man. I was furious. I mean, it's stupid to try to retaliate when you have an aggressive, rude, unfriendly driver who cuts you off in a crosswalk or something. You have nothing to gain. But you absolutely have nothing to gain by hitting the car that was extremely careful to stay out of your way! I mean, I have a New Orleans Track Club sticker on the back of my car. If anyone is watching out for runners, it's me.

I slammed on the brakes. I opened the door. I did the low-and-deadly, "How. Dare. You. Touch. My. Car." Then I turned my little car around, parked, and marched into the "box" (I've been inside one now! It's just a garage). I demanded the manager, and made him call all his little cross-fitters in and hold an impromptu policy meeting to set out rules and expectations in respect to drivers.

This is why Cross Fit gets a reputation for creating jerks. Because this dude was a jerk.

Fresher legs

Last week I mentioned that my Monday night track workouts with Varsity Sports were a little slow and heavy, probably because I was doing the bulk of my running on Saturday and Sunday. This week I tried to change that.
Over the weekend I only ran 16 miles, 13 on Saturday and just 3 on Sunday, hoping to feel well-rested for Monday. But I didn't plan exactly right. I bought those new Saucony Guides (uh, I mean, Mirage, seriously a blog reader caught that and I didn't?!) awhile ago, and took them with us to a weekend at David's parents' house in Bay St. Louis. I wore them for my Saturday run on the very windy Bay Bridge. I always get "hills" in on the bridges when we're in Bay St. Louis! The hills plus the stiffer feel of the Guides tore my legs up. I had sore calves and achey feet all weekend.

Still, I think it did help to take Sunday easy. Track last night was 20x200m with 30 second rest. You were supposed to run the 200's in the number of seconds that your 10k time is in minutes. So a 42 minute 10k = 42 seconds for a 200. I easily completed the workout, averaging 39 seconds, varied from 38 to 40. Now, this is a short workout, so of course it felt easy on the muscles, but I liked not feeling dead, so I'll try to stick to the shorter/easier Sundays from now on.

As for the Saucony Mirage...jury is still out, but I don't love them. They're a tad narrow for me, and a lot less cushioned than I'm  used to. My Mizuno Musha flats on the track last night felt more pillowy!

Olympic thoughts

The Olympics are finally over, and I can have my life back. Wait, no I can't, Walgreens still has it. Darn.

Here are my rambling post-Olympic thoughts:

- We need to develop some more USA talent. Especially at cross-country. Aren't there any young Minnesotans burning to medal for there country in skiing?

- The Olympics are the only time I watch TV at broadcast times. I decided that commercials are little letters from Satan. They're boring, they aim for the lowest common denominator, the humor is pathetic, and I'm pretty sure there are only six commercials in the whole world and they're just on constant repeat. 

- Whenever our speedskaters bend over, they look like they have baboon butts. 

- Figure skating is no longer beautiful or interesting. The scoring has forced programs into a cookie-cutter of combinations and jumps, and has massively increased falls and errors. This is especially true for the men, who feel obligated to attempt quads when a triple could be just as beautiful and more easily landed. 

- Viktor Ahn, I don't understand you at all. 

- I adored Kostner's figure skating. She is so graceful and talented! And yeah, Sotnikova didn't earn gold. She just didn't. Still a great skate, though. That's what happens when results are judged, and why a timed sporting event is always more satisfying to watch.

- Short track: Edge of my seat! 

- Every skier in every event wears tight spadexy stuff, except moguls skiers, who wear tents. Why?
- Are you sure Bob Costas didn't have a viral eye infection? That just took too long to heal for regular pink eye. I mean, assuming he had medical attention early.

- Russia still gives me the creeps. 

- The designers of the following uniforms need to be lined up and shot:

The team Christmas sweater uniforms, the Desert-Storm-meets-garbage-collector snow boarder outfits, and OF COURSE the speedskater suits (it couldn't be that we're old and not as good now, could it?!).

The Fairgrounds

A few weeks ago, we spent our Saturday at the Fairgrounds in Midcity. It was cold but clear, and we stood outside at the track to watch the races. It was the first time I'd seen horse races! They actually eclipse people races in excitement!

The Fairgrounds has free races every week, although they charge $5 for "better" races with well-known horses. There's food, a bar, and a covered area, plus the grandstands in the clubhouse for $10 entry. We liked it better on the grounds, especially because you could stand by the Paddock and watch the horses being brought in up-close.

Friends making bets...

Observations from the Fairgounds:
1. People get really excited when they win $6
2. Jockeys are somehow shorter in person

Busy at work, squeaking by at the run

The last week or two of work killed me. I launched a big project at work that had me under a lot of pressure and working extra, not to mention collaborating with my senior account executive, who routinely shows up to meetings without her phone/calendar or a writing implement. I am so sick of lending her pens. It just makes her seem unprepared.

When I'm busy at work, I start wearing totally unprofessional garb.

Plus I hired a new employee who needs a lot of training, as she's new to pharmacy, and I have two new students. And I also started a series of classes that my company is volunteering to teach for HIV patients. I've been so rushed that I realized that I wore the same thing to work twice last week. Oops. The busier I get, the more of a bum I am about my outfits.

So, a lot is going on, and I find my running is getting squeezed. I got a 10k training plan from coolrunning.com, but I've been struggling even to fit in the lower mileage during the week. What happens is that I end up back-loading my running, running most of my miles on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This is a bad idea, because then I'm tired for group track on Mondays.

That means poor performance at the track. The last few weeks have been meh. Last week I felt fast, but I didn't have a watch (Garmin was being dehumidified in a bowl of rice in hopes of prolonging his life). So I don't know. This week I'd noticed that longer runs on Sunday slowed me on Monday, so I took it easy on Sunday and showed up to track hoping for a great night.
And then my nose starting bleeding. Luckily I had paper towels in the car, but this was a bad one, and I bled all through the warm up and workout review. Finally a discovered that one of the teams had dumped an ice chest out on the grass, and managed to stop the bleed with an ice cube to the upper lip.
But the first mile of our workout was tough! I bounced back, but I felt a little light-headed at first!

I ended up with a good workout, though, keeping pace between 6:20 and 6:30 for two sets of 1 mile, 2x800, and 4x400 - all at 10k pace. Since that felt pretty good, I am really going to try to get my running back to schedule this week and prevent dead legs on Monday.

We'll see how I do. I'll report back!
Right now I'm off to do some park loops on dirt to recover from last nights track.

Wanted: The right shoe

Also, a left shoe.
Kidding, I mean I'm still hunting for the shoe I'm comfortable - and safe - in. A few years ago, I wore the Saucony Kinvara for every run, and I loved that shoe. I still do. I'm mourning it, really. I had to stop wearing it because my foot was collapsing a little, causing undue strain on the adductors (my problem area). Switching to a slightly more stable shoe made a difference, and I don't want to take any chances going back to the Kinvara, even though I'm pretty healthy now.

When I decided to move away from such a soft, neutral shoe, I picked the closest thing possible: the Brooks PureCadence. And I've been pretty happy with the PureCadence, with two big exceptions:
1. They wear out way too quickly. I used to get 1000 miles out of a Kinvara. I hit 500 in the PureCadence and they were barely even held together still.
2. I lost 6 toenails after my last half marathon. I'm wearing a men's 8.5 because my foot is so wide, but it's a tad too large. The 8 was too narrow across the bunion, so I had to go up to my regular 8.5 just for width, but my toes are sliding forward and I'm shedding toenails. I normally might lose the same nail on my longest toe, no big deal, but SIX?! I don't want to make that a habit. I need a better fit!

I went over to Varsity Sports to get some suggestions. Whenever I buy a new style, I try to buy it locally. I don't like taking chances with fit and feel, and I do like to boost the local economy some. Since we get a discount for running with the Varsity group, it barely costs more to buy locally than from an online retailer.

Jessica had me try two shoes:
First, the Mizuno Sayonara, which was an amazing fit but didn't meet my qualifications at all (it's quite similar to the Kinvara and does not have any stability features). Of course I loved it and couldn't have it. But Jessica just thought it looked like a shoe I'd want, which I did. Darn.
Second, the Saucony Mirage. I'd tried on the mirage before, and didn't like it at all. It felt stiff, heavy, and tight in the toe box, with too much heel. But that was an older model, and Jessica said I'd like the improvements. And I did. The upper now has "Flex film" instead of overlays, which not only drops the weight, but helps a lot with fit over my wide feet. It still felt a little stiff to me, and it has a padded tongue, which I try to avoid on my shoes (they get sweat-soaked and disgusting in our summer heat). But I'm not looking for perfection. I just want some other options. So I bought it. I can comfortably fit a men's 8.5, without my foot sliding, so that is a plus.

I tried them out yesterday, and so far, so good. They're a touch tight at the bunion and do feel stiff during landing, but no major complaints. They feel like more shoe than I'm used to, but not necessarily heavy, which was a nice surprise. I think they're just over 8 ounces, which is not too terrible. Of course, I'll know more after I've worn them more. Sundays are a tough day to try out a shoe, because I go really easy on Sundays since it's sandwiched between a long run and a track workout on Monday.

What's in your shoe rotation? Have you found the right shoe for you?